2023 Day 5: Agon
Agon is a tale of heroes in the manner of legendary Greek heroes. Like in Nine Worlds, there is a duality of god-inspired and personally-driven power. But it more closely follows the pattern of ERA: Epic Roleplaying where there is a more static structure. It’s not either of those games though.
Cover of Agon: stylised ancient Greek helmet
Let’s talk about that narrative structure. I am not overly enamoured of prescriptive scenes, I think it takes away the natural flow and interrupts players being “in the moment”. There is a reason for the structure here, in that it’s an action game and not intended for introspection, which along with the minimal dice rolling and the flow the structure creates does mitigate the effect of this.
Your shipful of heroes sail to an island. After a short exploration, the “Strife player” brings in their foe and they all clash. There is a middle step where they try to mitigate disasters and bring forces to bear. And then the finale where they take down the foe (typically physically, but it doesn’t need to be (e.g. the Sphinx)). Between and after the action, there is a scope for roleplaying but mechanically it’s all about these steps. Similarly, there may be multiple antagonists so the PCs can choose who fits in the foe box - as long as they follow the steps. There’s actually a lot of scope for roleplaying, if you wish to go that route, but it’s just there are no real mechanics and everything is ST fiat.
But you will see that it’s a very Homeric approach to storytelling and thus makes sense in context.
The crux for me is that the room for freeform improvisation is diminished. The rules require a list of things: the example islands are three pages long and they are packed with the information you require, with the flavour drizzled over the top. Once you have your island, you can improvise around these elements all you like but it stops it being truly pick up and play.
The actual contest mechanics are: roll Name, chosen Domain (you choose the type of contest normally) and Epithet if it applies. There are a few other dice you can bring to bear if you pay the cost. You mostly take the highest two and try to beat the opposing total. And that’s the entire exchange: narrate your success or failure and maybe take harm.
All of which means: I totally get it and it’s very clever. If I want to do a Homeric odyssey I would totally look this way. But in terms of pick-up legendary gaming, I would stick to ERA, despite its minor confusions.
Androula is a huntress beyond reckoning and she seeks to prove to Artemis that she is worthy of the Goddess.
Epithet: Unrelenting D6
Name: Androula (“Victory”) D6
Lineage: Androula is a child of Zeus.
Favoured domain: Resolve and Spirit D8 (Other domains, D6)
Divine Favour: Artemis //, Hera /, Zeus /, Poseidon /
Style: Androula has a variety of cloaks for camouflage but she cannot stop herself wearing a distinctive clasp that links herself and Artemis.She wields a spear, and typically has a few spares on her back.
Bonds: 1 to each other hero, and 1 with Zeus. He loves her, honestly.
Androula character sheet